Sarah Perez

Sarah currently works as a writer for TechCrunch, after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to becoming a professional blogger, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.

Latest from Sarah Perez

Dropbox has launched on the Roku, with an app that allows you to view the photos and videos you have stored in your account directly on your TV by way of Roku’s streaming media player. The new app itself is simple to use – you can browse through your folders, view thumbnails and slideshows, and even search for items by name. Read More

Should Apple be concerned that a number of popular app makers like Facebook, Google and Snapchat have yet to embrace its Apple Watch platform with apps of their own? That’s a question raised by a recent New York Times piece detailing how many developers are taking a “wait-and-see” approach when it comes to Apple’s new wearable. Read More

Amazon is expanding its Prime Music service today with the launch of a new collection of exclusive acoustical recordings from a number of artists, both established and up-and-coming. At launch, there are just over 30 recordings being made available, which is accessible by way of the Amazon Music app on iOS, Android, Android Fire devices, Amazon’s connected speaker Echo, or online at… Read More

Everlane, the fashion shopping site focused on selling high-quality apparel at lower prices than traditional designer retail, has today made the move to mobile. The company has now launched its first native smartphone application with the launch of Everlane on iOS, which allows shoppers to browse and buy its luxury items right from their phone. Read More

Though some adults still feel awkward about having conversations with their smartphone’s mobile assistant, like Siri, kids today seem to have no qualms about chattering with our virtual helpers. My daughter, for example, thinks of Siri as just another one of iPad’s toys. She also regularly instructs me to “ask Google” for the answer, and hits up our smart speaker… Read More

Amazon today announced it’s expanding its travel site Amazon Destinations to reach several new markets across the U.S, representing a doubling of its footprint since its launch in April this year. There are now more than double the number of destinations available for booking on the service, which includes hundreds of hotels across 35 cities and 6 larger metro regions, the company notes. Read More

Following its acquisition of food delivery service OrderUp earlier this month, Groupon is today announcing its own nationwide delivery and takeout service, Groupon To Go. The program is initially available in Chicago, where it has been in pilot testing with 500 restaurants since March, but the company says it will expand to other metro regions throughout the year, including Boston and Austin… Read More

Google is today opening up a program that allows developers who are running Search app install campaigns on AdWords to advertise their apps within Google Play’s search results. In conjunction with this, Google is also launching a new conversion-tracking solution that will track when users install and then launch an app after clicking on a search ad. Read More

It’s been a good week for cord-cutting sports fans. Word has it that CBS will live stream the Super Bowl commercials for the first time. Disney is considering its options for making ESPN a standalone service (well…maybe five years from now.) And now, golf fans are getting a digital subscription service of their own, with the debut of the PGA TOUR LIVE’s new online and… Read More

With a growing number of mobile applications available to download, and only a handful that see regular usage, push notifications have become one of the only ways for developers to grab users’ attention in order to get them to reopen their app and re-engage with their content. Unfortunately for app users, that means we’re often bombarded with notifications we don’t care about. Read More

Ordering your food or beverages by smartphone and then paying for it via an app is quickly becoming the new normal. Starbucks already allows for this across thousands of its stores in the U.S. Meanwhile, Burger King and Firehouse Subs announced integrations with MasterCard’s MasterPass digital payment solution just this week, and Taco Bell’s own mobile ordering solution is powered… Read More

HBO today announced its second deal with a pay TV provider, in this case Verizon*, to make its over-the-top streaming service HBO NOW available to broadband customers who don’t have a cable TV subscription. In addition, the terms of the deal also reference making HBO NOW available to Verizon’s other “digital platforms,” including its upcoming mobile video platform… Read More

Last week, we noted a recent change to the App Store’s algorithm, which appeared to have more heavily impacted iPad app developers, and ultimately resulted in ranking changes for some subset of app publishers. Now, we have more evidence that supports the theory that the recent changes to app rankings were actually an adjustment to the algorithm, as opposed to a glitch or a test on… Read More

Google Search got a small, but notable, update today that focuses on helping users determine when it’s the best time to visit a nearby business.
After performing a search for a business on Google, then clicking the title to see details like its address, phone number and open hours, for example, Google will also now show you “popular times” for the business in question. Read More

It’s time to clean up the Internet, apparently. Blogging platform Medium this week joined Google and Microsoft, as well as other social platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and more recently Reddit, in taking a firmer stance on how it will handle online harassment, including the posting of confidential and personal information and revenge porn. Read More

One of the biggest problems with the Twitter-owned live streaming app Periscope from day one has been its notification system. While push notifications are a useful way to immediately discover which broadcasters you follow have just started a live stream so you can tune in and join in real time, its lack of granular controls meant users were faced with what could often be a deluge of alerts. Read More

Following its split from PayPal last week, eBay announced this morning it’s closing down a number of standalone mobile applications, including eBay Valet, eBay Fashion and eBay Motors, and is retiring its on-demand delivery service eBay Now. On the latter item, the company says that eBay Now was “always intended” as a pilot program, and while it saw encouraging results, it… Read More

Google has announced a change to its user consent policy which will affect website publishers using Google products and services, including Google AdSense, DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange, as well as whose sites or apps have visitors arriving from the European Union. Under the new policy, publishers will have to obtain EU end users’ consent before storing or… Read More

Following the arrival of stronger-than-expected earnings last week, radio service Pandora this morning announced the expansion of its “Sponsored Listening” ad product, which is now being made available to all advertisers. The product, which was first introduced this past fall, was said previously to be scheduled for a launch in the second half of 2015. Instead of more… Read More

The first thing I thought when I opened my Ringly box was that it smelled. Bad. Like electronics that had caught on fire and were then put out in some sort of chemical bath. But the company told me that the ring I received (an early review unit sent to reporters) was part of a bad “beta batch.” More recently, they replaced it with another. It didn’t smell nearly as bad. Read More